October Summary

October has been like a true autumn month – looong. September feels like ages ago. But long and dark autumn months aren’t necessarily bad. It is more tempting than anything sitting inside with a book and a cup of tea.

I spent almost 3 weeks reading Sangen om den røde rubin. Not because it was a boring book, it really wasn’t, but because there was so many things happening that reading wasn’t a priority.

I went on to another Norwegian writer, one of my new favorites, Linn Ullmann. Her book Et velsignet barn wasn’t as good as the first one I read (De urolige), but it was still a great read.

After these two Norwegians I felt like reading something very different, so I picked up Philip Kerr’s Berlin Noir Trilogy. I’ve read the first two books, and I just love them! Can’t wait to start No. 3.

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I really liked this book, but I believe I would have loved it even more if I had read it at a normal pace. When I am reading the same book for a long amount of time, I get tired of it, no matter how good it is. But it was a fun read. It is easy to see why there was a lot of fuss when it was first published. It is really well written, with vivid descriptions, and it’s actually quite an easy read.

 

 

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 I loooved De urolige, so I wanted to read some more books by Linn Ullmann. But Et velsignet barn (A blessed child) is not quite as good. The way of writing is the same, but this one is a little bit harder to keep track of the time leaps. The story is good and quite exciting. You understand that something terrible happened a long time ago, but it’s not until at the end you understand what it was. The book is both lovely and gruesome, but all in all it was a good read. I believe I will read more of Ullmann in the future.

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This is the first book in the Berlin Noir trilogy. I’ve had this trilogy on my TBR for a while and I found the book at a market earlier this fall. It’s been gathering dust in my book shelf while I’ve been struggling for the courage to embark on this monstrous book of 880 pages. But I started it and was pleasantly surprised. Not only is it quite easy to read, but it is really exciting. We meet the private investigator Bernie Gunther in Berlin in 1936, so of course the story concerns a lot of the course og World War II. I really enjoyed March Violets. The only thing negative is Philip Kerr’s extreme love for metaphors, which is a little over the top. 

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Oh my God, this book! I love it. March Violets was almost perfect, while The Pale Criminal was just the perfect historical detective novel. The story continues where March Violets ended, just a couple of years later. We’re still in the interwar period, but World War II is just around the corner. What I found a little negative in the first book, Kerr’s great love for metaphors, there is considerably less of in this book, and I feel that this gave the story a better flow. I can’t wait to start book No. 3, A German Requiem.

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What about November?

First of all I am going to finish the Berlin Noir Trilogy. I imagine this will take another week. Afterwards I have a few books that I feel I should read. I’ve been wanting to read Dracula for some time and I believe November is the perfect month to do so. Also I want to read Heart of Darkness, but this will not be a priority, as I believe that’s a tough read.

Of Norwegian books I really want to find time for Jon Fosse’s Melancholia. I also think there is a good chance that I will be tempted to read some more of Linn Ullmann.